


Throw Me A Bone

by CerezaLane



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Break Up, Ecto-Genitalia (Undertale), Ecto-Tongue (Undertale), Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Heavy Angst, Love, Love Confessions, Porn With Plot, Racism, Requited Love, Slow Burn, Thank you reader, There's Plot Now, This was pointed out by a lovely reader, Unrequited Crush, pregnancy loss
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2020-09-01 20:15:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 19,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20263900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CerezaLane/pseuds/CerezaLane
Summary: You've never been able to get over your crush for Sans, and it only hurt worse seeing him together with Toriel.You're just a silly human, afterall...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, dearies. Made another one for you all (because I have no life outside of work, baby/hubby, and video games)
> 
> I don't really see too many stories where its Soriel first, then reader/Sans, so I wanted to try my hand at it. Hope it's good enough.

Your fingers curled harder around your mug of coffee while sitting at Muffet's. 

It had finally reached the perfect temperature for you to take an actual gulp of the caffeinated nectar to perk you up for the day, but what you just saw now quickly dashed away your hopes of having a somewhat okay day.

Or, rather, _whom_ you just saw.

Toriel and Sans were in line, and the ridiculously exuberant amount of flirting they were currently engaging in made you feel an empty pit open up in your stomach.

Coffee forgotten, you couldn't help but stare at the scene in front of you with a forlorn sense of...longing.

You saw Sans gently squeeze Tori's hip lovingly, his bright pupil lights glowing fuzzily at her and perma-grin kicked up higher on his face. The goat lady could do nothing but giggle prettily, a slight pinkish hue to her furred cheeks.

Rapidly blinking back tears, you hastily tried cleaning up your table to leave as quickly as you could manage.

Alas, your luck was shot to hell.

"Oh! Y/n! How wonderful to see you again. Would you mind terribly if we join you?" Toriel's pleasant voice rang out.

Beside her, Sans gave you an uninterested stare, casually placing both hands in his hoody pockets. You mentally winced at how lackadaisical that gesture was to you, but a question was posed, and you were never one to be impolite.

"S-sure, Tori. Company would be great on a chilly day like this," you answered her. 

Truth be told, you would welcome the interaction. Anything to distract you from your crushing defeat on not having your object of affection return your love.

Toriel beamed at you, and you couldn't help but give a small smile back at her, before sitting back down in your chair. She turned around upon hearing her name called and regally walked back to the counter. Your coffee was still hot enough to drink, so at least you wouldn't have to purchase a new brew.

Sans had stayed behind, and you awkwardly waved at him. He didn't return the greeting, and pulled a chair out to plop in it.

...You couldn't figure out why Sans didn't really like you.

Besides the obvious, being that you were human. 

You knew Sans barely tolerated the human ambassador Frisk, and that was only because Tori became the adoptive mother for the kid following their release of the monsters from Mt. Ebott.

You became friends with the fallen queen at the elementary school Frisk went to. You were a teacher's aide for the mixed race classes, and it warmed your heart to see human children, uninfluenced by bigots and racists, play with the monster kids. 

You'd met Tori at a parent-teacher conference, and bonded over the love of baking sweet treats. You'd tag-teamed with her at plenty of bake sales, becoming a big hit at any school function hosted.

Sans had unexpectedly showed up one evening when you had stayed behind after hours to wait for Toriel to show. The goat woman had texted you that morning advising she'd has to attend a conference with King Asgore for more monster-human negotiations within society.

The smell of ozone wafted in the classroom, and when turning to identify the source, you'd screamed bloody murder at seeing the new skeletal intruder.

"heh, relax, human. didn't mean to rattle your bones." 

That deep voice had resonated within your soul, and you felt whatever words you were about to say pause in its transmit.

You never expected that low of a voice could come from a skeleton. It sounded very calming and gentle, so you had slowed your rapid heartbeat and introduced yourself to him. Sans had given you an odd look upon explaining your position at the school, and since then, always had a frosty disposition in future interactions with him.

And that was before you'd found out him and Tori were dating.

So you'd had some time to learn everything you could about him, not only from watching him whenever he came to meetings or school functions, but you'd heard of his personality and charm through luncheons with Tori herself.

How funny he was when throwing out clever puns and jokes; how caring and protective he was of his younger brother; how incredibly intelligent he could be...

How extremely thorough he was in bed...

And even though you knew he and Tori were very committed to each other, you couldn't help but form that stupid crush on him, secretly wanting to find out more about him.

Even with your romantic feelings towards him, you did genuinely wanted to be friends with him. He was always amicable with others; you just wished he extended that to you.

"S-so, how have you been, Sans? You and your brother like your new digs?" you asked tentatively while gripping your mug again.

His white lights bore into you, and you felt as if he was searching deep within you for something. A moment later you determined either he didn't find it or didn't like what he found because his perma-grin tilted down on the corners even more. 

"look, kid. i'm just gonna cut it off right now, and politely ask to not bother with small talk. i'm just sticking through this for tori, so no need ta be polite," he gruffly answered you.

You face dropped, and your heart began beating profusely in panic. And then an overwhelming wave of sadness and despair washed over you, causing your head to hang low.

...You knew he wasn't the biggest fan of you, you knew that. But you had hoped...

Well.

Toriel finally came back with her and Sans's order, her smile at odds with the unpleasant undertone between you and Sans.

You didn't want to ruin their outing anymore, so you picked up your cup and stood, hoping your face could convey a somewhat reasonable smile.

"I just forgot...I-I need to head to the school for some papers that I need for my dissertation. I-I'll see you around," you stammered out, then made your way to dispose of your things before heading out the cafe door.

You didn't look at Sans the whole time as you were leaving. You now knew where you stood with him, and your heart could only withstand so much pain for the day.

Maybe this would finally put your obscene crush away from you...

You knew that was a lie, even as the thought crossed your mind.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anime night with Alphys and Undyne. But you still can't help it...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm just winging it for this one.
> 
> Is it fall yet? I wanna wear my boots and scarves now 😤

It was anime night at Alphys and Undyne's home. After the shit storm day you had, you were looking forward to forgetting everything for a bit.

It was your turn to bring over the drink for the evening, so tonight's selection was good ol' fashioned tequila, courtesy of Mr. Cuervo himself.

After knocking on the door, it was immediately pulled open, and you were forced into the most bone-crushing hug by the muscled fish woman.

"Ya finally made it, punk! Get your ass in here so we can finally take these shots!"

"Sure, sure, but, uh, can you let go now? Us humans have a thing called breathing that's very vital to us."

She let out a manic laugh and threw her toned arm around your shoulder. "Nyahh, all you humans are such weaklings! But you do have some kickass anime and booze, so it's all good with me!"

"Is t-that Y/N?" a timid voice asked fron the living room. 

"Sure is, babe! And she brought the bird out for tonight's drinking!" Undyne shouted back.

You quickly extricated yourself from her, passing the brown sack of liquor to her, and beelined for the bathroom. 

You had a brief moments peace as you shed your work attire for a simple nightshirt that just barely covered your ass and some striped shorts. You gathered your hair into a high bun and took a makeup cloth to remove the light trace of stuff off your face.

Undyne nor Alphys had to worry about removing makeup. Both monsters were beautiful in their own rights, with Undyne throwing out a gorgeous Amazonian face and body in her luminescent aqua skin and fiery red hair, and Alphys complementing Undyne's strong features with her own pudgy, but super adorably nerdish cheeks, big eyes, and amazingly curvy firgure cast in warm golden scales.

...Even Toriel was a woman to admire, as even though she was severely matronly, she'd be the equivalent of a MILF in human standards. Pearlescent white fur, shining blue eyes, and a body to die for.

...It was no wonder Sans would fall for her.

Why would he settle with a human girl that couldn't even touch the beauty monsters had in truckloads from their exotic shapes and colors?

.....Maybe you could start off with the shots instead. You sighed forlornly, and trudged back to the living room.

Alphys had hooked up the projector for tonight, a cacophony of pillows and blankets piled in front of the screen. The yellow lizard was rummaging through her anime collection when you took a seat on the sofa.

"W-what are you in the m-m-mood for, Y/N? A-action? Horror? R-rom-com? Fantasy?" she asked you.

You thought for a bit. "Mm, how about a little old school with some Cardcaptor Sakura?" you suggested.

Alphys whipped her head around so fast, that familiar twinkling gleam in her eyes. "OH, YES!!!!! THAT'S PERFECT!"

You giggled slightly, and perked up even more when Undyne came in, shot glasses, snacks, and tequila bottle in her arms. "Cardcaptors, huh? S'not my favorite, but my precious bean loves it, so I love it, too!"

A sharp pain zinged through you as you watched the happy couple nuzzle each other.

...You grabbed a glass and immediately filled it before knocking it back. Then took another shot just for extra measure.

"Alright, punk! Let's get this night started right!" 

You saluted the fish woman with another shot.

* * *

Around three in the morning, you jolted awake from the feel of something wrapping around your ankle. You sat up and looked around. Undyne's long red tresses had somehow circled your ankle while the woman herself was currently cuddled up to her short girlfriend, the two sleeping blissful and unaware of you.

You couldn't help but smile warmly at them. The two had been dancing around each other for a while from what Tori told you, but upon Frisk freeing the monsters from Mt. Ebott surprisingly Alphys had been the one to make the first move on Undyne, much to everyone's surprise. You'd met the newly appointed couple one night you and Tori were hosting a PTA event, and you'd been friends ever since.

At the thought of Toriel, your smile gradually faded, as with thoughts of her always led to thoughts of...Sans.

The sadness from earlier returned swiftly, now that no distractions were present. 

You couldn't understand why you had these feelings for him. Hell, it was downright shameful for you to even want him when he was so obviously committed to Toriel.

But the heart could be a fickle thing sometimes, and try as you might, your feelings still lingered for Sans. It was like...something deep inside of you felt it could find its place in the world if he was by your side.

Absently, you rubbed the center of your chest. How could you have fallen so deep in love with him in auch a short time?

You'd never felt this way about anybody you'd dated before. Just clean, harmless fun with the label of a relationship.

But Sans made you think about things in the long-term realm, something you never bothered to truly delve into with your past romances.

And he _hated_ you.

Even though earlier he never explicitly said it aloud, the animosity he emitted could be felt at that table and it poured all over you.

You'd felt lost, scared...

Helpless...

Like the one thing you absolutely needed in the world erased itself from you. Intentionally.

Monsters were all about intent; it was the intrepid way they could gauge how to react to a certain gesture or phrase, whether it was delivered by a fellow monster or human.

Sans made his intent clear enough for you to back off.

So why did you feel that what he was doing...

...was wrong for him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would any of y'all be interested in a Sans POV..? 
> 
> Click your sparkly red heels saying "I wish..." three times and---!
> 
> I'm fucking around. Lol. Just holla in the comments


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans knows your secret...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While listening to Coco Jones' "Depressed", I cranked this out. I figure after turning 30, it seemed apt 🤷
> 
> But, um, yeah. This one...this one's not for the faint of heart, so take care when reading please, and let me know how this is...

Today was the one day out of the year you hated.

It had been 2 years since the unfortunate incident occurred, and you'd thought you'd been able to move forward without breaking down every year. 

But you found no matter how many group sessions you had attended, or new friends you accumulated since then, this...

This was the one thing that broke you every time.

No one was supposed to find out about this secret you harbored. You were planning to take it to the grave, never speaking a word of it again to anyone.

And Sans now knew.

* * *

There was a parent-teacher conference today. You'd almost forgotten you had signed up to spot one of the teachers a couple weeks ago.

You were sitting next to Toriel and another teacher's aide listening to the super intendent drone on about the upcoming school semester's curriculum and the new integrations that were going to be added within classrooms to help the human/monster interactions.

Toriel had already let you read over the new plans drafted to have a human perspective on what the monster nation was proposing both in schools and political legislatures, so really all of this was really redundant.

You'd much rather be at home right now anyways...

It was pretty hard on you to keep a smile on your face throughout the entire endeavor, and you were mentally kicking yourself in the head for not remembering this meeting sooner.

Being out in public was the last thing you needed right now.

Luckily, as soon as that thought crossed yout mind, the meeting adjourned, and traffic was directed to the catering provided.

You figured Tori could hang with the other parents and teachers, so you made way to leave.

The smell of ozone hit your nostrils, and you immediately whipped your head around to see Sans standing next to Tori. 

You could see a bony hand lightly caressing her hip, their heads close together mummering something and giggling softly.

That empty feeling returned to you at witnessing this, only with today, it seemed to hit you at triple force for your sadness. You needed to get out of here quickly before either one of them noticed-

"Y/N..?"

Time halted.

You knew that voice. You knew very well who it was that had spoken to you, also. 

<strike>God, how you _hated_ them...</strike>

Accepting their invitation, you turned to them, a blank look on your face.

Maybe you could nip this up quick and be on your way.

"Arianne. How nice to see you again."

You didn't mean that. Not for this person.

Arianne could see the dismissal in your face from her, and winced slightly. 

Good. At least she had the decency to show humility to you.

"I-I didnt know you were a teacher here. I guess you finally finished your degree for education?"

You nodded. 

An awkward pause ensued. Arianne shuffled her feet together, one hand clutching the strap of her purse in a death grip.

You waited, knowing something else was coming. You didn't realize Toriel and Sans had stopped talking and were looking at you and Arianne's exchange. Tori, with a troubled gaze; Sans, with an annoyed but nonetheless curious one.

"Y/N...If I had known Brian was supposed to-"

"Save it," you cut her off quickly.

Arianne was now looking at you with a pleading look. "Please, Y/N! I swear-"

"I said stop."

"He betrayed both of us, don't you see! Please, you have to forgive me...I-I never intended to hurt you...You're my best friend, and I failed you. Especially when you needed the both of us the most when-"

"I said fucking STOP!"

The people around grew quiet at your outburst. You didn't care, not at this point. 

She was trying to apologize for something that was never forgivable in your eyes. Both for her and Brian.

Your ex-husband that had cheated on you with your best friend.

For a whole goddamn year.

Screw this. You didn't want to deal with her on today. And the sooner you could get home, the sooner you could be alone with your grief.

Toriel and Sans had, at this time, come up to you. Tori laid a comforting paw on your shoulder, and while the gesture was innocent, you scowled upon contact with it. 

"Y/N? Is everything alright?" Tori asked, worry laced in her voice.

You jerked yourself away from her, causing her to gasp. Sans let his eyelights vanish at this, his grin turning into a menacing scowl. "dunno what yer problem is, buddy, but you'd better fix it real quick. tori was just tryin ta help."

You turned you head away, shame and anguish flushing over you at your behavior. Tears started falling from your eyes, and you quickly tried to wipe them away.

No...please, don't let me break down here...

"Today is that day, isn't it, Y/N?"

Your gaze clashed with Arianne, silently pleading to not go on any further.

"It's okay...I can be there for you this time. You don't have to go it alone anymore," she continued.

You shook your head negatively, and tried to get away from her. Sans, apparently, had other ideas and grabbed your shoulder harshly spinning you around to face him.

"i always knew somethin' was off about ya the moment i looked at you and yer soul," he growled out.

Toriel looked affronted. "Sans! Why would you do something like that?"

"cuz no human would willingly be so kind ta a monster unless they were hoping to gain from it. so out with it; what are ya hidin'?"

Your breathing was escalating rapidly, too fast to the point where your vision was flickering out. 

You couldn't breath..!

So much pressure...need to leave....

Need to escape...

...please, leave me alone..!

"her LV's at a 6, by the way, tori. and you and i both know how a human's soul gets that way," Sans stated, the fear of judgement admonishing you.

Tori faultered in her defense of you. "..Y/N..? Is this...true?"

"I...I...I-I"

Why couldn't you speak?! 

Sweat was pouring down your temples, and the intense pressure of a headache was forming rapidly. You felt as if you could not take in enough air to breathe normally, and the gazes of everyone were bearing in on you, weighing you down with their hateful judgment in their eyes at learning your LoVE level.

Arienne was still here. Why wouldn't she just go?!

"It's not your fault you lost your baby, Y/N..." she said so softly.

But you heard her.

And all the fight just...left you.

* * *

_You had waken up with a pain in your side. You thought the baby was shifting around and was exibiting their more active side in the dead of the night._

_Brian had called you earlier to let you know he'd be working some overtime for the night, that way he'd have all day tomorrow with you._

_You smiled warmly, and had planned a nice, relaxing day for the two of you since you both hadn't had a day to yourselves for little while now._

_Feeling pressure in your bladder, you shuffled the covers off to make your nightly routine to the bathroom._

_However, you stopped in cold fear when you smelled iron. _

_Looking down, your sheets and pajama pants were coated in blood, and at that moment an intense, sharp jab in your stomach came again._

_You scrambled for your phone on your nightstand. It was 3:37am; where was Brian?! He'd said he'd be home by 2, 2:15 at the latest!_

_You texted Arianne, then finally called her when you never received a reply after five minutes._

_That never happened. She always replied back right away, more so now that she had moved into the apartments down the street._

_You were planning on telling her you were pregnant at brunch tomorrow with her and Brian..._

_Immediately you called 9-1-1, and fifteen minutes later you were in fetal intensive care. You had placed several calls toyour husband and Arianne, but neither picked up or responded to your texts._

_Where were they?!_

_What was happening to you and the baby?_

_...You got to hold your daughter for five hours and 37 minutes._

_You heard her take her first breath..._

_You held her...as she slowly grew colder and colder..._

_Emelia Grace. Named after your great-great grandmother._

_You had casts done of her feet, and place all of the hospital's gifts in a little lavender box you kept in your closet._

_Brian had returned, along with Arianne stragely, after the nurses wheeled your bed back to a recovery room._

_They told you they had been seeing each other secretly, but you found out from him after she left that this had been going on for a year._

_You could not find it in you to care anymore. You gave him his ring back, and promptly asked for a divorce._

_No tears had fallen when in the divorce lawyer's office as you signed the paperwork._

_If Brian had noticed the little cuts on the insides of your arms and wrists, or how thin you'd gotten, he no longer had the right to comment on it._

_...You moved away relatively shortly afterwards to Ebott. The only ones who knew where you'd moved were your parents, and you knew they wouldn't tell anyone where you'd gone. They understood your pain, and you were very grateful to have such loving people as yours._

_You completed your teaching degree, and began volunteering on monster/human assignments in the district you lived in._

_You made new friends. Went to therapy. _

_Made a new start._

_But..._

_You would never forget. You would never forget the little gasp of air taken, right as the life you knew ended._

* * *

The tears fell unbidden from your empty eyes. You didn't bother to move to stop them anymore.

Toriel rushed to pull you into her arms, running her paw through your hair. Sans made no move to stop her, his arms listlessly at his sides.

The thing that scared him the most?

He could no longer see that once vibrant shade of green your soul was anymore as he stared into your lifeless gaze.

And it was all his fault.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Well.  
This pulls from a...personal experience. Nothing in my entire life has ever taken my soul and spirit away so completely like this.
> 
> But I am thankful to have my little one today, as it was incredibly hard for my husband and I to want to try again and be happy for her.
> 
> Anywho, Sans POV next time


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully this is somewhat accurate. I had to refresh my mind on Sans and what makes him the way he is....  
Reading other folks' stories also helped 😖

Sans had went through 257 resets before the anomaly known as Frisk finally released the monsters trapped from Mt. Ebott.

257 times to repeat the same scenes, the same dialogue, the same battles...

The same crushing feeling of seeing his brother fade away into dust that scattered in the snowy fields...

So it was safe to assume that Sans had become quite jaded to the kid, as well as with the concept of freedom the monster nation now had. Most times, he was even nihilistic to the idea.

How long would it take for Frisk to become bored of the newly acquired peace they all had, before it could be reset?

He had the same nightmares for a very long time, always circling back to this one being that had enough determination to change the fates of an entire nation simply on a whim.

The Judge in him had seen the walking paradox come through from the Ruins, and even then he could tell nothing would ever be the same from his interactions with Frisk.

But they had told him something quite interesting following the monsters' escape into human society.

Their power to Reset...

It no longer existed for them anymore. 

Monsters were well and truly _free _for the first time in decades.

As much as Sans wanted to believe this, his mind had warped so much that he couldn't trust what the kid said anymore. 

After all, they could be lying (again) to try to placate him into thinking they were now "good" and wanting to make the world unafraid of monsters by becoming their ambassador for integrating into human society.

A load of shit, in Sans' opinion. 

Humans were evil, always seeking to claim victory over one another in the most devious ways possible, then having the nerve to be affronted when called out on their flaws. He had no problem bearing witness to humans' true intent with a simple glance at their souls.

Bright colors were dulled with lies and deceit in plentiful bounds when first gaining the rights monsters lost when the mages trapped them Underground. 

Diplomatic efforts, that at first appeared reassuring, were only means to still take control of their nation in a more inconspicuous nature, much like how slaves of other nations had been usurped in the early stages of mankind.

It was disgusting, and Sans wanted no part of it.

* * *

Things came to a head when he lashed out at Papyrus, and Sans knew he was fucked up.

Paps had only wanted his cool brother to come to a meet-and-greet organized by a non-profit group that had fully supported monster rights from the start.

Sans tried to decline the invitation gently, not wishing to upset his brother, but the more Papyrus pushed the offer, his seemingly unending patience had finally run out, causing him to yell at the younger skeleton.

Paps had gone disturbingly quiet following the outburst, and Sans rushed to apologize to him, but the damage was done.

The taller skeleton had left a note the following day stating he was going to stay with Mettaton, whom he knew Sans did not fancy, for an indefinite amount of time, but also pleaded for Sans to seek help.

So he did.

He was able to find a monster therapist that had worked closely with Toriel following the death and reemergence of Asriel. It wasn't surprising to see her knitting or humming a newly discovered tune when he came in for his sessions.

Eventually, he became somewhat tolerant of humans and started opening up more when he became distressed, whether it was to Paps, Frisk, or Tori.

Even him and Flowey had formed a rather oddly macabre friendship that constantly teetered on the frenemy side.

And Tori...

He'd always harbored a crush on the punny lady he shared jokes with through the Ruin doors. It only grew the more he spent time with Tori outside of their therapy appointments.

A quick bite to eat turned into lingering gazes, clandestine touches of each other's hands or face, longer dates just alone with each other...

From her, he gathered she and Asgore were truly done, and only held their titles as king and queen respectively. Anything beyond diplomatic meetings and conjectures was not to be.

He made his move on Gyftmas, which he remembered fondly, as the best day he'd had his entire adult life.

They purchased a quaint cottage together, and continued their relationship openly without fears or insecurities holding them back. He eventually got a teaching gig at the local university lecturing on quantum mechanics and string theory, while Toriel fulfilled her dream of becoming a teacher for humans and monsters alike, inevitably opening up Ebott City Academy to integrate all students wanting to learn.

Then _you_ came.

* * *

Tori had casually started mentioning you at dinners the next few days, boasting about how wonderful you were with the children and how pleasant your warm nature was.

Sans, naturally curious at this sudden interest Tori was putting into a single human, decided to try and make a new acquaintance as an effort to be positive for his fluffy girlfriend.

His chance came when Tori had texted him saying she would be late in leaving a town hall meeting and asked if he could pick up Frisk from school. He focused his energy, and teleported to the last classroom he had seen Tori in, and saw that there was a single human cleaning up the desks and papers. He'd only recently come to terms with humans, so he thought he'd be able to pun his way with this one and grab Frisk with no issues. 

But then he'd seen your soul.

Granted, he wasn't supposed to look into things like that without some type of order or decree, but your level jumped out at him, given that you were taking tenure in an environment with children that had no concept of LOVE to speak of. How the hell could a simple human be so high in level at barely 27 years of age? He had already stuck his hand out to greet you, but from that point forward, you were nothing to him. 

Too dangerous to interact with any monster kind; certainly not fit to be friends with Toriel, or anyone for that matter. He was placing you in the same category as Frisk back when they were testing the dimension time warp theory. He would have to keep a close eye-socket out for you. 

The more time you interacted with them, the more distrustful he became of you. What were you playing at by befriending them? There had to be some sort of scheme that he was having a hard time to unearth. Frisk had did the exact same thing in the beginning; who's to say that you weren't exactly like them?

But the thing that bothered him was how bright your green soul shown from within.

With your kind of LOVE, your soul should have dimmed immensely in color to maybe a dark, olive green. Instead, it was the truest green he'd ever seen, and that bothered him. 

He had to figure this out before someone got seriously hurt.

* * *

It never occurred to him that the one who would become hurt was the same one he was investigating. 

Fuck...losing a child was one thing. He'd been there, albeit younger, when Toriel and Asgore had lost both Asriel and Chara. The pain that radiated from them was enough even for his little soul to grasp, which only made him more protective over Papyrus. 

But to lose them? Within your very arms?

Your gaze was vacant; the shine in your irises dulled to nothingness. Tear tracks marked down your cheeks, but you made no move to clear your face. To him, it almost looked like you were willing yourself to fade away...

...And he did not want that for you.

Being the Judge, he single-handedly witnessed your soul cracking as soon as everything was laid bare, and he had no idea on how to fix it. Vacantly he could hear Toriel berating him and that other human woman for pushing you so hard and breaking your spirit. He knew the words she was stating were true; in all the time he'd watched and listened to you, not once did you exhibit any of the character Frisk had started to show after a couple botched runs in the Underground. He'd thought you'd end up the same way, since all humans, from what he experienced since coming above ground, lose interest so easily. 

You never did any those things, and he supposed it pissed him off when you continued to not do what he expected. 

The way you were now...this hurt him in a way he never expected. It felt like something within him had been...torn away; lost to the void with no way of recovery. Unexpectedly, tears began to pool in the corner of his sockets while staring at you. 

What was going on..?

The other human woman, Arienne he recalled, gently took your left arm and helped you to stand up. You leaned heavily onto her, but your stare was still unclear, and you let the woman lead you past the small crowd that had gathered from this outburst, pushing past the metal doors that led outside. Toriel, crestfallen, stared after you helplessly for a spell, then whipped her head around to glare at Sans.

"How could you do something so heinously, Sans? Why would you want to harm Y/N?" she asked accusingly.

He had no answer. The only thing he could fall back on was your exceptionally high LOVE, and even that was a mistake. He now knew you had no choice in the matter; yes, a child was denied the life given, but nothing could be done to save the tiny soul, and that guilt had suffocated you, he saw. 

And he selfishly made you relive your horrible past, all because he'd never given you the _chance _to prove you were a good human. 

Blinded by his past with Frisk and all other humans since coming above ground, he prematurely deemed you to be just like every other human and negated any opportunity for redemption. 

He looked away from Toriel, ashamed at himself. He knew a long talk was coming up shortly when they returned home...

...but he could only focus on how desperately he wanted to make a mad dash for the doors to comfort you and fix your broken soul.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gah! I did it, and just in time to bring the 2019 year to a close. Oh, man, this year has been...whooooo. Lots of growth, pain, self awareness, broadening myself. Just doing fucking something just for ME. 
> 
> It feels so great to be welcoming this new year with no apprehension. Like, seriously. 
> 
> But enough of all that 😩  
Live, learn, continue to grow is all I can say, so thanks for reading and stay tuned!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Relapse.
> 
> Recovery.
> 
> Rekindle..?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now for the healing process. Or at least a start to it. 
> 
> I'm not sure how to go about the Sans/Reader relationship start, so any ideas???

You looked at your phone, a heavy sigh escaping you.

57 missed calls, 70 texts unread. Most messages and calls you saw came from Toriel, but you also saw a few from the school principal, Undyne, and Alphys, too. 

You did not give Arianne your number, even though she did help you walk out of the school. You wanted nothing to do with her and...that chapter of your life anymore, but you would forever hold onto the memory of what was not to be. Perhaps over time, you'd be able to manage better with the memories. Of course, as with all emotionally draining things, only time would tell. 

It'd been a few days since the incident, and you were currently fortified within your apartment. You'd had a steady back-and-forth commute of your bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom. You didn't bother putting on anything more than underwear, minus the bra, and old, ratty T-shirts. You knew you had to get back to work and out into society again...

...But maybe not at this time. Not just yet, anyways.

Placing your phone back on the nightstand, you turned away from it, grabbing your pillow to hold it close to you. 

Sans...knew everything now. Not the fact that you were still, unfortunately, in love with him. You would keep that secret with you forever, if you could manage it. Even with his callous way of exposing your hidden truth about your past, you could not find it in yourself to release the feelings you had for him. It was quite sad that you couldn't turn off your heart to him, even with his relationship with Tori, and you knew it would only lead to more heartache down the road. 

Maybe you were some kind of masochist, you bitterly thought to yourself. What kind of sane person would willingly put themselves through this kind of torture, especially with the fact that nothing would come from it?

Moving away from those depressing thoughts, you reached back and grabbed your phone again, resolving to look at your missed notifications. Scrolling though the call log, you surprising noticed a call from your mother. Maybe Tori had contacted your parents to see if you had escaped to them? You made a mental note to call her later, then moved to your text messages. Yep, Undyne and Alphys both texted you checking in on you, Tori with her motherly texts...

You...had a text from Sans.

You didn't think he had your number, since he wanted nothing to do with you. Regardless, you opened up the chat to read what he'd sent.

_i knw i'm prb the last person u wanna hear frm, but cld we talk abt things..? i feel like i need 2 hear u out n actually listen this time. plz..._

What were you supposed to do with that request? Should you do it, and actually have a decent exchange with him?

...What if it was some kind of trick? Sans was the king of puns and trickery; what if this was some ploy to meet up only for him to further educate you on how corrupted your soul was now that he knew everything? Toriel had told you before the monsters surfaced, Sans was a judge of some sort, and was able to see the traits of a monsters soul to its full capacity to determine if one was good or bad. You didn't want to be subjected to that kind of...prejudice against something you had no control over in the past.

You left the message on 'read', then powered off the phone. This was too much to process, and you frankly had enough to deal with over the last few days. 

A knock sounded from the front. Debating with yourself for a bit, you eventually got up and made your way to the door. Looking through the peephole, you saw a tuft of white. Taking a deep breath and releasing it, you unlocked the door and opened it.

"Y/N...my child, I have been so worried for you," Toriel said, hope in her voice at seeing you.

"Hey, Tori...I'm sorry I haven't been in contact with you. I've just been..." you trailed off.

"Hush, dear. I'm just so happy to see you. You're doing okay..?"

"More or less," you shrugged listlessly. "Um, come on in, I guess." You moved back to allow her to walk forward, then closed the door before following her to the sofa. "Can I get you anything to drink? And, er, sorry about the mess. I just...haven't really had time to clean-"

"Oh, nonsense. I'm not worried about the state of your home, Y/N. And I will decline the drink, but thank you. Just...come sit with me."

You swallowed and sheepishly made your way over, sitting down while maintaining your gaze to the ground. Suddenly, you were enveloped in a pair of warm, fluffy arms, Toriel's soft sobs coming through. You immediately reciprocated her gesture, releasing some tears of your own. Truthfully, you were all cried out, but these tears felt more like...a release of some sort. The start of something; you weren't sure what of at the moment, but you could tell it was the beginning of something new.

Tori gathered herself and released you, her paws wiping her face and muzzle. "Forgive me, Y/N...it's just...so good to see you again. I didn't know if I would ever get the chance to apologize."

"Apologize? For what?"

"For Sans's behavior, and the awful things he said to you. You didn't need to be subjected to that kind of interrogation, and he had no right to view your soul as he did," she explained. "I also do not know this Arianne person, but I did not appreciate the way she spoke to you, and have asked the board not to allow her into the school anymore. She, apparently, was there on observation for the district board to observe out meeting and report back on monster/human integration."

"Oh...I didn't know that she was an actual board member. But about Sans...I'll be okay. I think...he was just trying to protect you, in his own way. You're his girlfriend, after all."

It hurt you to say that, but you couldn't deny the fact Toriel and Sans were a couple. In a way, you could understand why Sans reacted the way he did. It still didn't make it right, but you could at least understand the intent behind it. 

"No. What Sans did was something no monster would ever do, outside of an encounter. Viewing one's soul, and then having the nerve to openly speak about in public? It goes against the code of monsters, and Sans should have been aware of this fact. He and I had a long talk that day after you left, but I haven't seen him since then."

You decided to keep the knowledge of his text to yourself. Clearly, Toriel didn't know Sans had gotten in contact with you, and you felt this was something you needed to handle on your own without the influence of anyone else. 

"I'll be fine, Tori. This is something I've dealt with for a while...and maybe now that you guys know, I can process it better than I have been," you reassured her. 

Tori stared at you, trying to see if you were withholding something back, but you suppose your facial expression was enough to relieve her as she visibly relaxed. "If you are completely sure, my child. In any case, I've taken the liberty to inform your mentor of you needing personal time, in light of this, so they informed me your dissertation due date has been extended to the end of this month."

You'd completely forgotten about that. "Stars...thank you so much, Tori. And...I think I should be fit for work again next Monday. I just...need a few more days to come down from all this."

"Take as much time as you need. If you should need anything, please do not hesitate to contact me. I'm sure Frisk would love to see you again, as well."

After that, you and Tori chatted for the next hour or so before she had to excuse herself to return to the young ambassador at home. You hugged her tightly, thanking her again for coming over and checking up on you, then locked the door after she left. 

That wasn't so bad of a visit; you certainly felt a bit better now than you did earlier this morning. And your stomach decided to make itself known by gurgling, so you made way to the kitchen to fix something to eat. 

You still didn't know what to do about the whole Sans thing. With what Toriel just said, perhaps it wasn't a good idea to meet up with him. You didn't want to put a strain on their relationship even more so than it was right now. 

But you couldn't deny that you wanted to see the skeleton again. It was a downright toxic trait that you carried, but you couldn't help feeling it nonetheless. Maybe you should talk about it with Undyne and Alphys to get their opinion on it...

You didn't know for sure what you would do for now. However, you would carry forward with whatever decision you made, good or bad for the outcome. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally updated! >_< 
> 
> Sorry it's so short, though. This COVID-19 lockdown has been killing the creative flow, but I figured you guys need an update, and it's been a right good minute for this one. I'm serious about some ideas, though, on how to move this thing forward. I really do appreciate any feedback or suggestions you guys have because I'm not gonna be one of writers that doesn't finish things (not to bag on anyone that cannot finish things because of life or any personal matters that go on in life, since 2020 is just kicking all of our asses right now). 
> 
> Please remember to stay your ass at home while the world is going through this psuedo-pandemic, and please be safe, protected, and well informed on what all is going on. Love you all dearly!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A much needed girl talk with Alphys and Undyne

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, all. I meant to put this up earlier, but I just had to beat FF 7 Remake...and I already need the rest of that shit to come out, like ASAP. 
> 
> Plus side, though, is I did make a list of all the chapters that're gonna comprise this story (it's 30, so plenty of story to write about), and I'm super excited for it.
> 
> Anywho, enjoy!

The next day, you woke up at a more decent time, albeit still groggily. Going into the bathroom, you nearly punched the mirror from the demon that gazed back at you. Gosh, crying always made the underside of your eyes swell up all puffy-like. It didn't help that your hair looked like a fat bird's ratty nest, and your eyes heavily saturated in redness. 

You needed to get outside, and badly now. This was the worst relapse that you'd ever experienced, but you'd had enough recovery time to get back to navigating through life. It was time to put on the big adult's pants and continue forward. 

You just wouldn't think about a certain skeleton in the meantime...

<strike>Or at least for a solid minute or so. </strike>

Turning the bath faucets onto sauna warm water, you shucked off your dirty, stained clothes and gave yourself the scrubbing it definitely needed. Twenty minutes later, you were wrapping up blow drying your hair when you heard a pinging sound coming from your phone. Throwing your hair up in a messy bun, you padded back to your bed, picking up the phone from the nightstand. Unlocking your phone, you saw a message from Alphys.

_Fish bowl in t-minis 1200 hours. Bring nice cream and chocolate._

Secret text for saying 'be here at Undyne's for the talking we need to have, and bring treats.'

Snorting at the text, you replied in the affirmative, and walked into your closet to pull out something to wear out. A short while later, you were slipping on some flats, then proceeded forward out your apartment door, turning around to lock it in place. 

It was a medium length drive over to Undyne's, and even though you knew it would be bad, your thoughts came back to the event a few days ago. More specifically, how Sans, and Arianne, instigated your meltdown. 

He'd so vehemently accused you of being a liar, of only becoming close to Toriel and your friends because you had something to gain from betraying them for whatever reason. No person would ever be so steadfast into an assumption like that unless...it was something that had happened in the past. You knew how the monsters had been freed after so many decades of years; hell, occasionally you watched over Frisk whenever Tori needed to get away for an impromptu diplomatic meeting. But whenever you'd try to ask for specifics on hearing the journey the young child made through the Underground, an unexpectedly sage-like look crossed their face, and Frisk would just sign out that it was something that made them take a more thorough look and approach into their own actions. 

As cryptic an answer, if you'd ever heard one. 

You'd also noticed in the beginning of your budding friendships with the monster crew, you saw how Sans interacted with Frisk. He gave that same empty smile, as he did with you, and his eyelights always seemed to be...watching out, or waiting for something...bad to happen whenever Frisk was around. Frisk, in turn, would turn a sad, almost piteous look when returning his stern gaze, and rush to talk about something else or leave the room altogether. It didn't happen so much now, considering Sans had now reserved that look for you and you alone. 

You let out a long sigh. You had arrived at the girls' home, but didn't immediately exit your car. Pulling out your phone, you brought up your messages, and reread the text sent from Sans. 

What did he really want? 

And the real question: would you even bother yourself to show up?

"Hey, punk! Ya gonna get out of the car or not?!"

Your head snapped up, catching the scary, but welcoming, golden glare from the muscled fishwoman. Giving your head a little shake, you opened your door, grabbing the sack that was in your front passenger seat. 

"Hey, Undyne...long time, no see. Heh..." you muttered out forlornly. 

Undyne continued to stand there with her arms crossed, military stance on lock from how hard her slitted iris assessed you. You withered from her stare, turning your head to the side to avoid her penetrating look, and shuffled your feet in place. 

Suddenly, a vaguely cold, yet solid hug surrounded your form...and you couldn't help stop the freshly new tears that poured down your cheeks. 

* * *

"So, let me get this straight: this Arie bitch just shows up to the school, starts rambling about crap that has no business comin' outta her mouth, then that lazy bone douchebag had the NERVE to check you?!" Undyne exclaimed, progressively getting louder the more the sequence was rehashed out. 

"Y-yeah, that pretty much sums it up," you replied, then hid your face behind the steaming mug of hot chocolate in your hands.

"T-to think that Sans w-would do something like t-that...I-I mean we d-did used to work together at the CORE, a-and he was always so r-relaxed and chill around e-everyone," Alphys said softly, snuggled up against Undyne under a fluffy, teal fleece blanket. 

"That's crossing the line, and that numbskull knows it. Checking someone's soul without permission is like...it's like some perv starin' into your window while you're changing clothes! Hell, I should toss a spear at 'em, just for the hell of it..."

You let out a small chuckle. "Toriel might not be too happy about that."

"Small price I'd be happy to pay," Undyne growled out.

"H-honey.."

"NGAHHH!!! That...that FUCKING PUNK! How can Papyrus be related to someone like him is beyond me!"

Frowning, you took another sip of your hot chocolate before speaking again. "That's not right to say, Dyne. I'm sure my...experience with him is just a one-off thing. Besides, I'm convinced he wouldn't really act this way if there wasn't a reason behind it. Toriel seems to trust him, at least."

"Y/n's r-right, honey. If the queen can't t-trust Sans, her own b-boyfriend, then something would've b-been said already," Alphys said.

"Tch! I guess so...still fuckin' sucks that Y/n had to go through all that just because folks can't keep shit to themselves. Ughhhhhh..."

You smiled at the struggling face Undyne was making to not try and suplex a certain skeleton. You appreciate the gesture, really you did. But like the fool you were, it wouldn't make your heart feel any better if Sans were to get hurt because of him being insensitive to you.

"I-I've gotta hand it t-to you, Y/n. You're handling t-this a lot better t-than what I would expect a-after it being...the d-day of what happened..." Alphys glumly stated. You patted her scaly hand in good nature, and she gave you a small smile.

"Well, it certainly wasn't the best way to let you guys know, but now that it's out in the open, I can honestly say it's been a bit easier for me to deal with than I have been doing in the past. I've got genuine friends that care about me now...and..."

You'd debated with yourself on telling Undyne and Alphys about text you'd received from Sans while telling them what all had happened. It would certainly help you gaining more insight into what he could possibly be thinking, considering the girls had known him much longer than you did. At least, this was the reasoning you gave yourself. 

That wasn't what your mouth said, though.

"...And I'll be going back to work come Monday. I think it's been more than enough days to feel sorry for myself," you continued speaking. "I'm sure the kids miss me just as much as I miss them, too."

Undyne reached over and placed a strong, comforting hold on your right shoulder. "No one's gonna say a word if you still wanna take some time off. Pretty sure Toriel has enough clout to pull off something like that being a literal queen after all."

You gave the fish woman a warm smile. "It's okay. I need to get back into a normal life to help me pass through this, but I won't brush over if I need a break from it all every once in a while."

"Damn sraight! And I'll lay anyone out who says otherwise!"

"Y-you can't do stuff l-like that in front of k-kids, babe..." Alphys said while attempting to lower the excitement of her lover. Undyne just shrugged, then nuzzled into the cheek of the yellow lizard. Eventually, you all got sidetracked by popping in some anime and letting it play on through the first season. 

While eating the snacks prepared, you found yourself not really paying attention to the DVD. Even though you had planned on telling your friends about the text, you eventually decided to settle the problem on your own and came to the conclusion to meet up with Sans. You didn't want it to blow up into a giant explosion, should the meetup go sour, and the less people around to witness the potential meltdown, the better it could be resolved and swiftly put aside with. 

And...you wanted alone time with Sans. 

You figured he'd be the type of guy to deal with things in a more private setting, considering he was so hush-hush about his life if it wasn't pertaining to Papyrus or Tori. With that resolve, you excused yourself to the bathroom to relieve yourself. After doing your business (you did have 3 cups of hot chocolate, after all), you took out your phone and pulled up your messages. Opening up Sans's text, you hit reply. 

_Ok. Where did you want to meet at?_

Stars, you hoped this wouldn't be something to bite you in the ass later...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit short again, but I'm satisfied with it (＾ω＾)
> 
> Just a heads up, I might get distracted again from playing Persona 5 Royal...heh...so, um, sorry in advance. But I do promise to commit to this one. It is my biggest commitment, following after Farming for Bones (and thank you all so much for reading it and enjoying the story; just make me so freakin happy to read the comments)
> 
> Next chap: Back to Sans POV for the aftermath...Stay tuned!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the explosive blowup at the school through Sans's sockets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm...I think I did okay with this one, but I'm not too sure. I'm sure you guys'll let me know if this works for y'all

** _Following Y/n's departure from the school_ **

Sans continued to stare at the space Y/n just was before...everything went to shit.

Faintly, he heard the murmuring around him starting to take off, but all he could focus on at that moment was how hollow you looked right before leaving through the school doors. It was like any physical attachment you had to the world had abruptly left from within your soul, your body becoming a shell of itself as you retreated away from the crowd of people that had grown. 

Toriel gazed towards the doors with a saddened look, then turned her head to face him. The overwhelming amount of disappointment radiating from her caused him to take a tentative step back.

"Sans...please take me home at once." She said nothing else, then turned away from him and began to thank the staff for coming. He knew he'd be no help going forward for this part, and teleported to his car. As soon as his coccyx touched the leather seat, he gripped the steering wheel and lowered his skull to the wheel, shutting his sockets in admonishment. 

He'd fucked up.

He'd let his nihilism take over in that moment, lashing out at you with his pent up feelings and mistaken judgement. And he acknowledged that he royally fucked up. When he looked at you, after everything was laid bare in front of himself and others there, he'd realized you...were nothing like Frisk. For one, your soul was a vibrant kelly green; completely different from the deep red crimson of Frisk's soul. Secondly, that very color symbolized 'kindness', a trait heavily valued among monsters due to the healing characteristics and magic one could utilize to help others. Toriel had this special trait within her soul, which was why she was very good at healing. Likened traits matched with each other, so the more he thought about it, the more he could see why you and his girlfriend were very good friends, even despite knowing each other for such a short amount of time. 

Stars...how could he ruin something so easily and callously? And all because he had a stick up in his non-existent ass because of his distrust of humans. He wasn't stupid; he knew not all humans were the same being, cut from the same thread. There was kindness and tolerance shown to him from his albeit limited interactions with them, but like the numbskull he'd shown himself to be this evening, vehemently chose to overlook that simple fact, taking it out on someone who...honestly never gave him a reason to be so rude to them. 

The sound of the passenger door opening and closing with a finality sealed his fate. Raising his skull, he took a glance to his right, and immediately wanted to lock himself in his room forever. Tori wasn't looking at him, merely casting her gaze out the window, but he could see the slightly wet trial her tears had left down the side of her furry cheek. He searched for something, anything to say, but could find his words choking themselves up from escaping from his mouth. 

"..Why."

"w-what..?"

Toriel took a deep breath, then shifted her focus to him. "Why would you do something like that, Sans?"

"tori...i...i don't know. i just thought, with her LV, that she-"

"And that! You checked her, Sans! Do you know how disrespectful that is, especially to a human who has no concept of encounters?" Toriel yelled. Sans could see her fire magic bubbling below the surface, realizing how angry she was at his behavior. 

"i know that wasn't the right thing to do...but i had a reason, tor. i wouldn't do somethin' like that if i wasn't absolutely sure somethin' could go bad," he scrambled for an answer, trying to defend his actions. 

"What?! What could possibly go wrong with me being dear friends with Y/n?" she countered back. 

"because she could be just like frisk!"

He fell silent, the first to look away from her and her sullen blue eyes. 

"Sans...you and myself know that...nothing like that will ever happen again. I thought this was behind us, dear. You treat Frisk as if they were your own, Sans. How could you think..." And to make it worse for him, she was the one to put a comforting paw on his shoulder. 

It angered him; he'd shared his recurring nightmare with her in the hopes of someone finally understanding why he was so tired all the time, why he'd never be comfortable enough to open up to a random stranger, even if they were a monster. He thought she would at least take into account his past experiences, she would take that into some consideration for him. He shrugged off her paw, grimacing as he started the ignition for the car, then proceeded to drive out of the school parking lot. Tori, confused by his reticence, retracted her arm and grew just as silent as him on the drive home. 

The quietness hung between them like a heavy storm, not knowing which one was going to break the first downpour of words. Eventually, Sans's grip on the steering wheel lessened the closer they got to their residence, and he let out a sullen sigh. 

"look, tor...i know what i did was inexcusable. y/n didn't deserve any of the shit i said to her, so...i'm sorry," he finally said.

She looked up at him, a saddened look in her azure eyes. "It is not me you should apologize to, Sans."

He nodded, knowing fully well what his next action should be. 

"But...I just don't understand the 'why' of it," Toriel continued. "Please don't think me naive enough to overlook how your behavior has been towards Y/n, even from the very start. She has never given you a reason or done any actions to suggest that she was duplicitous in any of our outtings together. Why, even Alphys and Undyne have even become such good friends, you would never think that at one time, neither one knew of each other."

He did know that. Alphys, although one of the smartest people he knew, could easily fall victim to a liar; all they needed were some pretty words to cover themselves, and she would know nothing. Undyne, however, never gave anyone a single centimeter of a chance to deceive her. Her time as the captain of the royal guard drove in the need to always err on the side of caution when meeting new people, probably just as much as him, but Y/n was able to garnish a strong bond with her so quickly, it gave him whiplash to even ponder about it. 

And although Sans was willing to share his nightmares with his goat woman, he still held certain parts back because he knew how distraught she would be if she were to find out her own children were the source of ruin from the first time Frisk had fallen into the Underground. Even now, the entity known as Flowey was nothing more than a pedantic potted plant that the ambassador fought to keep around them. 

Sans turned into the driveway leading up to their cozy cottage, killing the engine as soon as he parked in front of the garage door. Toriel had asked a question, and he'd needed time to think about his answer so that she would understand better. 

"i don't have any other answer besides the fact that y/n is human. just like frisk is, and the fact that there are so many unknowns when it comes to them. it's hard to forget being the judge role nowadays," he paused to take a breath before continuing. "with how ambiguous humans are, it's like being on constant lookout for their souls when it comes to protectin' you and paps."

He felt her arms surround his shoulders, bringing him closer to nestle his skull against her warm chest. His skeletal hand came up, gently covering hers that was anchored to the edge of his hoodie.

"I know that humans have...not been kind to us throughout the years, but Y/n is a good person. I haven't had a friend like this following my and Asgore's separation, besides you, that I've been so...happy with," she murmured against his skull. "Please, give Y/n a chance, and you will be able to see that she isn't like most of the humans we've encountered since coming above ground. You might even find a kindred spirit given that she has experienced trauma similar to your situation, Sans."

"i'll try."

And he would, for the sake of hoping to rectify any chance he could redeem himself as a decent monster. Paps certainly wouldn't condone of his behavior, and he'd already disappointed enough important people in this timeline. 

The couple both made their way out of the car, Sans's magic activating the alarm as they walked up the short paved way to the front door. Upon entry, Toriel leaned down placing a soft kiss upon his teeth before rising to craddle him against her. His arms encircled her, returning her hug and nuzzled into her chest, releasing a shuddering breath. He was confused at first why she didn't immediately release him to go check on Frisk, but remembered that they were having a sleepover with Monsterkid that night. 

Toriel released him, and turned towards the kitchen. "I'll make us some tea and heat up a slice of butterscotch pie to share, dear," she said before heading towards that direction.

He grunted in agreeance, then shuffled his way to fall onto the sofa. Reaching into his jacket pocket, he pulled out his phone and opened up a text message. Immediately, he realized he'd never bothered to add your number into his contacts, so with a wave of a glowing hand, retrieved Tori's phone from within her purse and searched for your contact. Typing the number into the sender field, he paused trying to see how to go about fixing this. 

Right as he heard the kettle begin whistling, he was able to send your phone a text before going to join Toriel in the kitchen.

_i knw i'm prb the last person u wanna hear frm, but cld we talk abt things..? i feel like i need 2 hear u out n actually listen this time. plz..._

<strike>...He adamantly ignored the slight flutter in his chest when saving your contact number into his phone. </strike>

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another one complete. Just to be clear, though, Toriel hasn't necessarily forgiven Sans yet for his royal (hah) blunder. I'm just a firm believer that if you're in a relationship, you don't have to yell to convey how upset you are with your partner. They probably already know it, and are feeling shitty enough without you throwing all that in their face again. 
> 
> On another note, I might try making that butterscotch pie recipe. Like, if I had that with a cold glass of chocolate milk? Mmmmmm....


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Going back to work shouldn't be too bad...right..?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This came out later than I expected. I've just...idk, been in a funk lately. Not about this story, just other stuff. I'll get over it eventually, just like reader should.
> 
> (She's not, cuz then that would kinda ruin the whole 'angst' tag, ya feel me?)
> 
> Nonetheless, enjoy, dolls

_ **Present day** _

You smoothed out your skirt for the umpteenth time, your nerves jumping all over the place. It was like you were walking a brand new school for the first time, everyone knowing you were the new kid. A few teachers that had passed your parked car paused in their trek to assess you staring blankly ahead, whispering to each other before continuing forward. 

Placing your hand on your chest, you breathed in deeply before releasing it in a huge whoosh before opening the driver side door. Outside, you notice the branches on the trees sprouting their fruits, a rich lime green color for the small leaves that were blooming. At least you had the pleasant greeting of the turn of the season to welcome you back to the school. You smiled softly at the influx of children skipping up the pathways, little heads bobbing in whatever littler conversations they had amongst themselves. 

Activating the alarm for your car, you adjusted your medium tote bag on your shoulder and began walking to the front entrance. Some faculty gave you a small wave as you passed through the doors, with you shyly waving back at them in greeting. 

When you passed through the door to the faculty lounge, any chatter that took place immediately fell silent upon your arrival. Figuring something like this would happen with you inevitable return, you nonetheless smiled at everyone there and moved forward to pour some coffee into your tumbler. 

"...I'm surprised she even had the gump to come in. Not after something like that..."

Ah, there it was. 

You knew fully well the gossip trains would be running amuck for the next upcoming days upon your return to work. If you were in their position, you yourself would find it hard-pressed to focus on something other than the spectacle that occurred last week. Letting out a sigh, you resigned yourself to this inevitable fact and took a fortifying sip of your doctored caffeine. Best to just get the day over with, you suppose.

* * *

By noon, you were beginning to question your decision in returning to work so soon. Maybe you should have taken a few more days off...

It seemed everyone around you had nothing but that evening to dissect and form whatever opinions they reached, sometimes blatantly mouthing off complete bullshit when you walked through the halls. Hell, it was like you were in high school all over again, returning to that delicate time in your life where even the slightest misnomer said about you would push you into that depressing shell of your teenage self, slander constantly bombarding your meager defenses with hateful and cruel words. 

Being nearly 27, you'd had quite some time to form some hardened defenses against such methods, but it still hurt you nonetheless. Could no one else find anything better to talk about besides your meltdown? Even the few monster teachers seemed hesitant to approach you, and that's when you knew things were really taking a bad turn. 

You dropped your forehead on the cool surface of the table, tuning everything else out as the students and faculty moved around the cafeteria. You knew you needed to eat something to muster up enough strength for the rest of the day, but your appetite had suddenly decided to take a sharp turn into nothingness. 

"Are you alright, dear?" a soothing voice said from beside you. 

Raising your head, your gaze found itself captured by a calm blue. You smiled ruefully. "As well as I can be, Tori. I knew something like this would happen...I just didn't really expect it to feel so...crappy."

"If it helps, I've talked to a few senior members to make sure the chatter gets condensed as little as possible," she offered, a small smile of her own gracing her regal features. 

"Thanks, Tor. All I have to do is get through this day so that the next one is easier to progress through, that's it."

She nodded in approval, then proceeded to unravel her lunchbox. Figuring she would mother you for not eating, you did the same and took a small bite of the turkey sandwich you'd packed, chewing in pensive silence. 

"...I have spoken with Sans about this matter," Toriel said after a brief spell. 

Stars...just hearing that name gave you mixed feelings of grief and happiness. "I...see. I didn't cause any problems between you two, did I..?"

Taking a sip of her flower tea, she paused before continuing. You could see she was trying to carefully select her words before speaking again. 

"I was very disappointed in his rash behavior; I still am, to be honest. That type of carelessness was exactly the same thing I left...Asgore for. I can tell you it was not a very pleasant breakfast this morning, and poor Frisk was so downtrodden...I suppose I'm just realizing that there are still things about Sans that I know nothing about," she ended, a tiny sigh of wistfulness escaping her. 

You looked back down at your barely touched food, mulling over her words. It worried you that Toriel was going through these extreme emotions with Sans all because of what occurred last week, and you didn't really know what to do to try and help her. And you also had that text from Sans to figure out...granted, you did reply in affirmance, but was that really the best thing to do at this point?

Well, it was too late to back out of it now, nonetheless.

"Maybe, just give him a chance to explain in depth, I guess. You guys have been together for a while now; something like this was bound to come up sooner or later," you said soothingly, placing a caring hand on the goat woman's shoulder. 

<strike>You barely managed to keep your smile on your face for her; the slight pain in your chest worsened as the words came from your mouth. </strike>

Tori, unbeknownst to your inner turmoil, returned your emphatic gesture. "You are right, Y/n. No relationship is perfect all the time. I should know this after being bonded for so long..."

"Sans is the first real boy...bonefriend you've had since coming from Underground, right? It'll be alright, Tor. I'm sure in a few days, you guys'll be just as close as before."

The regal woman nodded, in much higher spirits this time, and you both continued eating lunch and chattering away. Toriel got up first and waved amicably in farewell to you while you continued to remain seated. You kept the small grin on your face until she left through the cafeteria doors, but upon the absence of her purple robes, it fell into a deep grimace as you looked down at your hands. 

What kind of friend were you to give relationship advice if you were so deep in love with their boyfriend? It was only a matter of time before the truth finally came out...

And you were scared shitless to see how well you could attempt to hold up the facade in front of the object of desire himself. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm cranking this out at close to 2AM. See how much I love y'all? Hah, I do, just so you guys know that. Next chapter to come as soon as I can make it!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A quiet chat opens up the door for both you and Sans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I said before, I switched up the order for this chapter, so you guys get this first. And I think it makes the most sense to put it out before anything going forward in this story takes place. We're also gonna get both reader's and Sans's POV for this one, too.
> 
> And could I also just take the time to seriously thank you guys from the bottom of my heart for the sheer amount of kudos, comments, and hits I've received for not just this story, but my others? Like, you guys seriously rock infinitely, and it's making this stay-at-home phase not feel so morbid.
> 
> Thank you all so much!

You were kicking yourself in the ass from the little amount of sleep you'd gotten. 

How could you? Today was your meetup with Sans, and you had been freaking out since yesterday after work. You'd both agreed to meet up at Muffet's at 11:30, during the brunch rush time. Completely neutral territory in a public setting to calm, you guessed, both of you all's nerves down to actually talk about everything that went down. 

It still bothered you that you were making a terribly rash decision; afterall, you didn't owe it to him to actually show up based off of all the cruel things he'd said about you. Hell, from his standoffish behavior from all this time you'd been around each other. But you owed it to yourself to find some kind of peace between the two of you, especially since you were such good friends with the same people within the monsterkind circle. It wouldn't hurt you to at least try and get on the same page, at least...

Tossing the blanket and sheets off you, you swung your legs to the side of the bed, groaning at your joints popping from the movement. In any case, you needed to start getting ready, considering it was already 10 o'clock, and it'd take fifteen minutes to get to Muffet's in good traffic. 

After showering and blow-drying your hair, you stood within your closet debating on what all to wear. After mulling over it for a good five minutes, you selected a simple pair of skinny jeans and a cerulean blue plaid shirt that you paired with a black camisole. You tossed your hair up into a high ponytail, and lightly applied some makeup and lip gloss. Looking the mirror, you deemed yourself decent enough, then turned to head out of your room. A quick glance into the kitchen negated the need for preparing food; if it all went to shit for this meeting, you could simply eat your sadness away, somewhat, at a nearby diner. 

You pulled your phone out and opened up your messages. 

_Heading out now. Be there in 30 min_

While waiting for the reply, you grabbed a crossbody purse from the hall closet and slipped on some flat mules while taking your keys from the bowl near the door. A soft ping sounded from your back pocket, and you reached for your phone again.

_k. see u there_

Taking one last fortifying breath, you proceeded out your front door.

* * *

There he was...

You had parked in the parking area near the shopping center, and as you walked up to the windows of the diner, you could see Sans sitting in a booth near the back, idly messing around with his phone. You probably looked like a creeper just staring through the window like you were, but the internal panic far surpassed over any embarrassment you might have felt in public. 

Let's just...get this over with, then, you told yourself, then walked in through the doors.

"Heya, human. Welcome to Grillby's. Would you like a booth, table, or bar seat?" the host, a friendly looking mouse monster, said to you. 

"Oh...um, I'm meeting someone here..? I saw him in near the back from the window," you answered them.

"Near the back...Oh! You must be here for Sansy! I'll take ya to em, just follow me," and they scurried off, leaving you to follow. 

...Sansy..?

Tabling that for later, you proceeded after the brown furred mouse, your gaze taking in the...warm atmosphere of the diner. Sure, it had just as much chatter as the next diner, but it seemed more...intimate and friendly somehow, and it certainly pleased you with how many humans were here alongside their monster companions. You were actually glad Sans had suggested this place as the meetup location, as you'd never been here before, and the chill environment somewhat relaxed you the closer you walked to Sans.

"Hey, Sans! This tha human you said you were meeting, right?" the host asked him.

The skeleton locked his phone, and looked up at the two of you. His eyelights roved over you quickly before returning his gaze to the host. "yep, she sure is. thanks, pal."

The host beamed, its bucktooth smile causing you to chuckle a bit. 

"No, problemo, Sansy! Hope you enjoy, human!" they exclaimed before they headed back to the front. 

An awkward pause ensued, and you started to shuffle your feet, unsure on what to say. Fortunately, Sans was the first to speak up.

"uh...thanks for, um, coming," he said quietly, a skeletal hand lifting to scratch at the back of his skull. "you...wanna sit down, kid? or would ya wanna move somewhere else..?"

"Uh, no...this is fine right here. So, yeah, thanks..." you trailed off as you sat down in the booth. Fuck...this was so goddamn nerve-wracking.

It seemed Sans was feeling the same tension, as you could see blue sweat drops forming on the side of his head. Mustering up a little sliver of courage, you decided to begin speaking-

Much at the same time Sans reached the same decision.

"I'm sorry-"

"i'm sorry-"

You both paused again, you looking down to your clenched hands on the table. 

"...what do you have to be sorry for, hu-er, y/n?" Sans asked softly. 

You tried extremely hard not to blush as your name was spoken by him. Geez, you were some kind of sicko right now to be thinking thoughts like that...

Looking back up at him, you gave a half-hearted shrug. "I'm...not really sure, to be honest. I just always kinda say that when I know someone is uncomfortable if it's dealing with me. My therapist says I've gotten better at not doing that so often over the years, heh.."

Sans could feel his soul clench harshly when Y/n said she was seeing a therapist. He felt like the biggest asshole in this century for potentially being the catalyst to upset all of your hard work for dealing with life following the traumatic incident. 

"...I honestly didn't know if I should've bothered to come in the first place. I kept thinking that...you were just setting this up to, like, trick me or something, just to get my hopes up, you know?" you continued one. "I didn't tell anyone about meeting up today, by the way. I just...wanted to handle this by myself, and I figured you were already getting enough pressure from our friends that I didn't want to burden you even more."

He placed his elbows on the table, leaning down to place his skull in between his hands. You could see him grimacing from his downward position, so you gave him a moment to process everything.

He thought to himself, for being named the literal Judge for monsterkind, he sure was turning out to be a shitty one. Maybe everything that had happened with Frisk and first arriving to the surface had affected him a lot more than he credited. "i ain't got...no kind of excuse for what i said that evening. hell, throughout the whole time you've been friends with tori and the rest of em," his gravelly voice finally said.

"What...made you think that way about me, Sans?" you asked tentatively.

He raised his head, looking at you with a forlorn and contemplative gaze. "you were human, y/n. that was just...enough for me to not trust you."

You frowned, not understanding his answer fully. So with a deep sigh, Sans began to explain everything from the beginning; he didn't leave out any details of how monsters had gotten trapped Underground all those years ago, the children that unfortunately lost their souls so that monsterkind could finally be free...

...The resets. 

Frisk, and they're glowing red eyes.

His hopelessness when seeing his brother turn to dust before his eyes...

And the subsequent 'welcome' all monsters received when finally emerging from Mt. Ebott freed with strange child. 

He felt you needed to know everything leading up to his behavior towards you, and a vast amount of other humans. The whole time he watched your face shift through a myriad of emotions: shock, confusion, contemplative, sadness, anger...

Pity. 

At first, he believed once that look crossed your face that his own anger would rise up to counter it, but strangely...that didn't occur. And maybe it was because...he was able to recognize that her look wasn't for him, specifically; it was for the whole plight of how cruelly monsters had been treated, even with the new laws and governs being able to integrate monster practices into the human world. It was like a weight was somehow released from his soul, and he had to take a fortifying breath to pull himself back together when ending his story, waiting for you to reply.

You'd never realized how bad your friends' situations were; sure, Undyne and Alphys talked about it with you, but never in so much detail. Toriel rarely spoke about their past selves; the few times you tried to speak with her about it, she always wore this defeated look in her blue gaze, and you'd quickly apologized for even bringing it up in the first place. 

Maybe with Sans's sharing of how events occurred for him, and the others, it was a step in the positive direction to form some type of kinship. Maybe it wasn't just some trick, and that he was actually trying for once to level with you. The resets were...certainly something that seemed outrageously farfetched, but that same forlorn look had crossed his face, just as Tori's, when he explained how many times he'd tried to bring the real Frisk back and set things right, only to watch it fail and replay the same results, like some morbid video stuck on a continuous loop.

You felt the urge to share with him exactly how your marriage had failed, once everything came to light. The entire divorce process only lasted a few months, given that Brian and Arianne didn't bother to delete or destroy any evidence that they'd been together in secret for so long, and had both shown up in court. You and Brian had both signed a prenup before getting married, so you both were able to walk away without ever having to deal with the other again. You didn't know if they were still together, and you didn't really care. 

"It took a really long time for me to get back to being...myself after everything that had happened, and I didn't expect you to just rip that peace that I'd finally gained just because you couldn't trust a human, Sans," you stated, your gaze concentrated firmly on him. "You made seem like I was the worst person in the world, and what was up with you saying that you 'checked' me?"

He, at least, had the decency to look shameful. "...my job underground was to be...the judge. i can see certain stats of...anyone, really, and i had seen that you lv-"

"That's the, um, level of violence, right?"

He nodded morosely. "yeah. i was able to see that your lv was higher than usual for a human. truth be told, i had checked you when first meeting you in the school when tori had asked me to pick up frisk that one time. i...i'm sorry.."

Your face hardened. "That's not right, Sans. Whatever job you had before coming above ground ended as soon as you placed your foot on the soil. Everyone else was willing to look for a new future; why not you?"

"i don't fuckin' know! i just...i just...didn't want the same thing to happen all over again. i can't watch paps..." Here, he lowered his skull, and you were able to see exactly how tired he looked. Sans was always a lazy guy; you could tell from how lackadaisical he engaged with the others, and he was always able to fall dead asleep wherever he was. You knew Papyrus had mentioned Sans was usually missing in action from whatever side jobs he had, so the bags under his eye sockets made sense to see. 

Reaching out, you laid your hand gently on one of his closed fists on the table. His head raised up, staring at you in confusion. 

"I can't begin to know how the resets affected you, Sans...but you acting out against me, just because I'm human, isn't fair to me. And if you're enough of a decent judge of 'souls', then you have to own up to it and stop making excuses. I can't change being human, and I can't change my past; all I can do is continue to look forward for each day that I'm able to smile and have friends that I can count on to be there for me. And...I'd like to be your friend, too, if you're okay with that."

He looked away from you, a sardonic look on his face. "...heh. dunno if you'd be alright with a bonehead like me...but i'm willing to try, if you're okay with that, too?"

You gave him a small smile, nodding slowly. "I'd like that."

You'd never reveal how much your soul surged when he returned his gaze towards you. It wasn't a glare he gifted you; he wore his usual neutral look now, but you could see his eyelights brighten somewhat, as well as his body begin to relax itself. 

"So, just to be clear I'm not writing off your actions just because we're starting over fresh," you firmly stated. "You've got a lot to make up for, and you can start by paying for today's meal.'

A few sweat drops began forming again on the side of his skull. "er...y-yeah, no problem, bud."

* * *

After eating some good greasy food, Sans watched you jog across the street to your car, and he waved at you as you were leaving. 

He didn't expect you to just forgive him so easily, and you'd definitely took him up on his offer of a clean slate based off the dollar amount when looking at the check. Still, he did feel somewhat better now that he understood you a bit better. You'd even passed along a few puns while eating, and he felt himself relaxing more around you. 

You weren't a bad human; Sans could acknowledge that fact now that you and him actually had a decent conversation. Everything that had happened to you, though, surprisingly worried him. When you recanted your past to him, he ignored the tightening in his chest as he imagined all the pain you must have suffered, then dealing with that piece-of-shit ex-husband and friend. 

He couldn't explain the discomforting feeling, now that you were away from him, but he would be making a point to try and get along with you. 

He could also admit to himself you looked kinda good in blue, but shaking away that weird thought, he teleported back to his hot dog cart. After all, no matter how much they barked, they couldn't sell themselves. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mmmm...right. I'm kinda okay and not okay with this chapter. Idk, maybe I'm being too critical of myself. Regardless, I do apologize for being really late to update this. My workload at my job has increased, and I think it's bumming me out more so than usual. 
> 
> But, I shall carry on! Not gonna leave you guys with an unfinished story (cuz I know that would bug the hell outta me)
> 
> I've also gotten an idea to do a Fallout 4 story, just to test out branching into another game field. Idk, what do you all think?


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the young ambassador's birthday!
> 
> Now that you and Sans are...something, hopefully the day will go without a hitch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to get started on this one early, so as not to forget. Also, I've recently gotten back into K-dramas, so maybe that can boost my creative writing? 
> 
> We'll see ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

"Are you almost here, punk? Frisk'll be coming home from MK's house soon!"

"Relax, Dyne. I'm turning onto the street now, no worries," you reassured her. You could already see Undyne's Jeep Renegade and Pap's cherry red convertible parked out front by the curb. No doubt those two were extra hype for the young monster ambassador's birthday.

Toriel had reminded you during lunch earlier in the week to show up a little bit earlier to allow Frisk and Flowey to spend the night at Monsterkid's home Friday to help set up the celebration. Luckily, you'd been able to turn in your dissertation to the school board early, so you were able to get a full night's sleep to help prepare for the day. 

Pulling into the driveway, you parked next to a...pretty sweet looking bike. The chrome and matte finish on the parts really made it look very svelte and sleek, much like the way a panther would silently assess its prey. 

Frowning a bit as you parked and shut off the ignition, you wondered who owned it. Maybe an extra guest had arrived for Frisk's birthday?

In any case, you had to give whomever props for owning such a cool motorcycle. Grabbing your satchel purse and wrapped gift from the back seat, you exited your car and walked around to knock on the front door.

"who's there?"

A visible shudder rocked over you when you heard Sans's deep voice come from behind the door. Shaking your head a little, you spoke out to him.

"Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?"

"humor me."

Shit...cleverness certainly wasn't your forte, but you still tried for it, nonetheless. "Um...dishes."

"dishes who?"

"...Dishes a pretty crap joke, but could you let me in anyway?"

A lock clicked before the door opened, revealing the slouchy skeleton who caused your heart to clench. His grin didn't look so forced; it was almost neutral, even. 

"that wasn't too bad. just gotta work it a bit," he said, nodding a little. 

An awkward pause ensued as you both struggled to come up with some type of conversation to continue on. 

"Oh, Y/n! Thank you so much for coming early," Toriel's gentle voice broke through the silence. Inwardly sighing in relief, you nodded you head towards Sans and made you way forward into the house. Sans had the foresight to step back from the door, so as not to have you accidently bump into him, before he shut the door with a soft click. 

Acknowledging Toriel, you returned her warm smile. "Yeah, I kinda figured you would need some help getting everything together for Frisk. It's not everyday you turn 13, after all."

Giggling a bit, Tori helped take your giftbags and set them on the decorated table where quite a few other presents were stationed. 

"Luckily we still have some time before Frisk arrives, so can you help me with decorating the cake?" she asked.

You nodded, then followed her into the kitchen.

* * *

"HUMAN FRISK WILL BE HERE ANY MOMENT! EVERYONE...TO YOUR PLACES!"

You heeded Papyrus's warning and scrambled to find a good hiding place to surprise the young ambassador. Frantically looking around, you saw Alphys and Undyne huddled behind the bookcase, giggling like the cute couple they were. Papyrus himself had commandeered the stand for the lamp, having placed the shade over his long skull. You fought very hard not to try and laugh at his endeavor. 

Seeing no other options, you quickly made your way over behind the couch, trying to smooth down any stray tendrils of your hair. 

"i would say you should find yer own spot, but i'm afraid i'm too much a couch potato to make the effort."

Looking down to the side of you, you weren't surprised to see Sans lazily waving at you. 

"Well, at least you attempted to cushion the blow to me," you punned back at him. 

..You swore you could almost see his eyelights glow just a bit brighter, but before either one of you could comment further, the front door burst open. On the count of three from Tori, you all jumped out from within you all's hiding spots. 

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FRISK!!!"

Said child looked momentarily shocked for a moment, but then their gleeful smile spread across their face. Amber eyes glanced around the room, twinkling in delight. Toriel appeared from the kitchen and strode forward, gently giving Frisk a fluffy hug. 

"Happy birthday, my child. I am so honored to celebrate this most wondrous day with you again," she smiled down at Frisk. 

Once the queen released them, Frisk went around to give each friend just as big of a hug. You noticed that although Sans didn't quite return the gesture, his playful ruffling of their hair caused a small smile to cross your face; you didn't see his usual fake grin in place, so perhaps the talk you both had a few weeks ago made him want to attempt to mend any friction between him and Frisk. Although you didn't see each other often, the few interactions since that meeting were definitely an improvement from the stilted exchanges from before. He'd at least made an effort to be cordial with you in social gatherings so it didn't feel like you were navigating through pins and needles with him.

It was still a far cry from you forgiving him altogether, but it was a step in the positive direction, nonetheless. 

"HUMAN FRISK! AS YOUR HONORARY BEST FRIEND, I MUST INSIST YOU PARTAKE OF MY MOST SPECIAL BIRTHDAY SPAGHETTI! HER MAJESTY INFORMED ME OF A HUMAN EDIBLE DECOR OF GLITTER! I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW YOU FIND OTHER GLITTER AWAY FROM THE CRAFT AISLE!" Papyrus exclaimed.

Discreetly looking over to the wonderful goat mom, she quickly gave you a sly wink. You snickered behind your hand in relieved joy. 

"Yeah, punk! Let's all get to eating so we can get to the best part: the GIFTS!!! Gotta make sure mine's is the best one on the table...er, besides her Majesty's that is."

The audible gasp from Papyrus almost made you crack. 

Especially with how he literally said the word 'gasp', then sported a surprisingly flabbergasted look on his skeletal face. 

"H-honey, this isn't a c-competitio-"

"WE SHALL SEE, CAPTAIN! I HAVE IT ON GOOD FAITH THAT THE HUMAN WILL BE SURE NOTICE THAT MY GIFT WILL BE THE VERY BEST ONE TO RECEIVE. FOR I HAVE THE ADDED BENEFIT OF BEING FRISK'S #1 BEST FRIEND," Papyrus said, his brilliantly red scarf waving in some kind of magical wind behind him.

"BULLSHIT!"

"Undyne, watch your language, dear," Toriel softly chastised. 

The fish woman had the wherewithal to look properly disciplined. "Sorry, Tori."

You couldn't hold it in any longer, bursting out laughing. Everyone pauses to look at your weird self, but eventually chuckles start to float around the room. Even Sans had joined in, chuckling deeply. 

No one else noticed when you stopped laughing, them having all making their way into the kitchen and dining area. Sans lazily followed Toriel and Frisk into the kitchen, most likely to help bring out the food for the table. 

_His laugh...is really nice_.

* * *

You were bursting from the overload of sheer cuteness as Frisk hugged you goodbye. Alphys had decided to finally showcase her hidden artistic talents and had painted everyone's faces. 

They all happened to be various anime and manga characters she and Undyne 'shipped', but everyone just seemed to play it off genially. 

"Can't you spend the night with me and Pap, Y/n?" Frisk asked you for the umpteenth time that evening. 

Ruffling their hair, much like Sans did earlier, you gave your most pitiful look to them. "No can do, kiddo. Gotta catch up on some lessons I've been missing out on, and if I don't start on them now, I might not be able to make it to your next birthday.'

Their little mouth opened in aghast. "What?! But that's so far away!"

"then guess ya better let 'er ketchup then, eh?"

Sans had propped himself against the archway, his trusty Heinz bottle tilted away from his teeth. Frisk let out an exasperated groan, but negated this by smiling in mirth at him. 

"'sides, ya need to watch paps with the popcorn. guess when i told him he could be the kernel, he took it pretty seriously," he continued on. 

"Don't worry, Frisky. Just tell Papyrus about his brother's corny jokes, and he'll be focused on that instead," you offered in good spirit.

Sans's eyelights shifted to yours, and you saw his grin kick up a bit. You felt like you deserved the biggest trophy from how well you fought your cheeks to turn red. Moving your gaze from the infuriatingly cute skeleton, you addressed Frisk again. "Next time, kiddo. Won't be anything in the world to keep me from one of your awesome sleepovers. MK gonna come by tonight?"

They shook their head. "Nah. His parents are taking him to see some other relatives this weekend, but I'll ask mom if he can come when you can!"

Nodding your head in agreement, you waved to their retreating figure as they turned to move past Sans. He shuffled forward until he was standing before you. He looked off to the side, fiddling with the top to the condiment bottle.

"this...was okay, yeah?" he asked, barely heard from the sudden shout of excitement carrying on behind him. 

You gave him a small smile. "Yeah...it was okay."

He escorted you to the front, giving you a tiny peace sign as he watched you head towards your car in the driveway. However, as you were clicking the keyfob to unlock your car, you saw he'd followed you and stopped in front of the motorcycle. 

"Uh, is this your bike?" you asked.

"mm, yeah. forgot i took some things from the labs to look over for alphys," he said offhand. "really helps when i'm too tired from 'porting someplace."

Holy fuck. That was soo..._sexy. _

"T-that's cool. Your bike, I mean. It looks really fast and sleek," you stammered out. Luckily, it was dark enough that the flush of your cheeks couldn't really be seen.

Holding a few file folders, he looked back up at you. "uh, thanks. took me a while to build, but she's definitely worth it."

Okay...you needed to leave now. 

You waved in parting to him, and quickly got in your car. By the time you backed out of the driveway, he'd already disappeared. Shifting the gear, you began driving yourself back to your apartment, finally letting out the whoosh of breath you'd been holding since Sans had followed you outside. 

As if your sickening attraction to him couldn't get any worse, he had to pull a double whammy of him being super intelligent, incredibly handy, and something of a daredevil for driving such a cool auto. 

When coming to a red light, you let your head fall upon the steering wheel. 

Stars, you needed a vacation. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay...so, I'm slowly getting back into the writing groove again. It might've also helped that I turned on the lights for my laptop, so it literally looks like I'm typing on a rainbow (•◡•) 
> 
> I'll pop out the next one when I can, and y'all stay safe now!


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You and the monster crew go on vacation. Carpooling is pretty cool, too

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I...have risen...
> 
> LOLZ, kidding. But, I am back. Creative juices flowing like usual. I've decided to wait until this story was finished before I dabble into the Fallout fandom. But that doesn't mean I won't throw out another Sans oneshot that just happens to pop into my mind (currently that may be a Dancetale one since I saw the TheMsource updated their fic; I'm sooooooooo happy for that (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧)
> 
> Anywho, enjoy!

Out of the blue, while hanging out at Undyne and Alphys's place, the yellow lizard suggested one of the best things ever:

"W-we should go on a t-trip somewhere."

Immediately, her blue girlfriend jumped up, pumping fists in the air.

"Aw, hellz YEAH!!! We totally should, and we can invite all the other punks with us!" She shifted her gaze to you. "Yer goin', right?"

They must have expected you to say you had some school work or papers to write out; jokes on them, though. Spring break began next week, and there was no way in hell you'd be spending it stuck inside your apartment doing 'work'. 

"Of course I am! I didn't spend the last few days catching up on my papers and essays to not goof off. I've been thinking I need a vacation since Frisk's birthday," you said genially.

Alphys raised a clawed finger to her chin. "W-where should we go, t-then?"

The three of you mulled over a destination. Personally, you'd enjoy it if you were by the water, preferably an ocean. Factoring in everyone else that might come, you figured Papyrus and Frisk would enjoy playing in the sand and water, Undyne could become the amazonian mermaid you knew she was destined to be, Alphys could sunbathe and make the appropriate fanfiction or manga featuring her gorgeous girlfriend in the waters...

...Sans and Toriel could enjoy a romantic beach getaway, since there's no way they'd leave Frisk to their own devices.

That last thought definitely put a drop in the excitement for you, but there were too many pros to abandon the idea all together. 

"How about the beach?" you suggested. "Should be really nice, especially since spring break is around the corner. It'd be good to bust out and let loose playing near the sand."

You saw Undyne's good eye sparkle in mischievous delight. "FUCK YEAH!!! Let's do that!"

"I-it would be n-nice to get out into the s-sun and warm my scales up," Alphys softly agreed.

"Then it's settled. I'll call Tori tonight and let her know. I'm sure Frisk and Papyrus would like to come, too."

A sneer crossed over Undyne's face. "You know that short midget will definitely come with them being there."

This was an absolute fact; there was no way Sans would let his brother or Toriel come on a beach trip alone. Despite his lazy demeanor, he was one of the most dedicated people you knew of, always protecting those close to him.

..It was that kind of dedication that was an unfortunate attraction you couldn't help but feel for him.

Alphys's scaly hand gently touched your knee, breaking you from your sudden bleak turn in thoughts. "A-are you going to be alright?" she asked softly.

Sucking in a deep breath, you looked both of them in the eyes before nodding resolutely. "I'll be alright. At any rate, it'll still be a vacation from everything, and stars knows I need that after everything that's happened."

* * *

"TAA-DAAAAHHH!"

You couldn't do anything but just stare at the scene in front of you. The strap of your tote bag slipped off your shoulder a bit at the marvelousness of...Mettaton.

"Well, darlings? I couldn't let my Pappy travel all tacky-like. His energy is just too great for that."

Blinking once, you refocused your gaze back the method of transportation that was to be used for all of you. It was a huge travel van, and it just so happened to be painted the atrocious color mix of pinks, black, reds, blues, and orange. Across the sides of the van, said van was dubbed 'Pappyton-mobile', and when Mettaton and Papyrus had pulled up in front of Toriel and Sans' home, the trademark car horn blasting 'fabulously', per Mettaton. 

It was clear for everyone when Frisk let out hushed "Wow."

Wow, indeed, kid. 

Toriel's front door opened, and from glancing to your left side, you saw Sans sporting some kind of floppy sun hat, a slight scowl on his permanent grin.

"...you've gotta be fuckin' kiddin' me.." his low voice growled out. 

You couldn't help but let out a giggle at how done Sans sounded. He casted a defeated look back up at you, and you burst out laughing, shrugging in answer at his silent question.

"Are you alright, dear?" Toriel's soft voice broke through.

"Yeah, I'm good. I'm just in...er, shock from how amazing this van looks," you said, reigning in your chuckles.

"OF COURSE, HUMAN! I KNEW I WOULD BE ABLE TO COUNT ON MY HONEY TO PROVIDE A MOST EXCELLENT MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION FOR THIS MUCH ANTICIPATED VACATION!" Papyrus said from the passenger side window. He had on a tropical scarlet scarf, and even though no wind was currently blowing, you swore you could see it fluttering heroically. 

Mettaton's metallic cheeks lit up in fuchsia color. "Oh, Pappy...you are such a doll," he murmured, pleased at his beau's words. Papyrus just let out a shy 'Nyeh', a gloved hand scratching behind his skull. 

"right. so, how're we gonna do this with seating?" Sans asked, totally not comfortable with the serious PDA his brother and Mettaton were displaying. 

"Hmm, well the van can easily fit 12 people comfortably. We can always pair up with seats. Pappy and I will man the driving, Undyne and Alphys can take the first row behind, Sans and Toriel, then Y/n and Frisk," the metallic diva stated. 

"I'm good with that. How about you, kiddo?" you gazed down at Frisk.

"Sweet!!! I can tell you all the stuff MK and I did last weekend, and show you my cool pictures we drew together!"

You beamed at them. "Neat-o. Is Flowey coming, too?"

"Azzy decided to spend some time with his father. He's actually been looking forward to doing that with Asgore for quite some time now," Tori answered. You noticed a sad smile on her face while she said this. Frisk, also noticing, took their mother's hand and gently squeezed it in comfort. Toriel looked down fondly and ruffled their hair some. 

"It's definitely a good thing, Tor. I'm sure you're proud of him," Undyne, surprisingly, offered. The older woman looked up into the warm gazes of her friends and nodded in agreeance.

Soon, everyone began hauling their bags and placing them in the side panel storage of the van. You tried not to stare in awe at the casual way Sans displayed his magic when levitating his, Toriel's and Frisk's luggage, and neatly placing them inside, then crumbled a bit in spirit when Tori placed a loving kiss on the top of his skull. Nonetheless, when everyone was seated and Frisk trained their childlike grin at you, it was definitely easier to let go of some of that residual pain you always felt with Sans.

New Ebott was roughly a couple hours drive to get to the resort town, so when an hour and a half passed, you broke out some snacks you'd bought for the road trip. Frisk had just finished wrapping up their story on them and MK rescuing a fallen baby bird from its nest but immediately began making grabby-hands at you when you pulled out some sour cream flavored chisps. Luckily, they had come in a six pack, so you reached into your backpack and handed them their own snack pack. 

"ya got any more in that bag of yours, y/n?"

Surprised, you looked up into Sans glowing eyelights. "Oh...er, yeah, I do. Do you and Tori want one?" you asked. 

"none for tor; she's kinda knocked out anyways. she woke up a little early to pack for us," he said bashfully, his signature blue color on his zygomatic arch. After you handed him a pack, he nodded in thanks. 

"You didn't help to pack?"

"eh, not my style to plan ahead of time. ain't got the brains for it."

You giggled at his pun, and was graced with an actual smile from him. Your heart kicked into double time, so to save face you looked outside the window at the passing scenery. 

"NGAHHH, how long is til we get there?! I feel my limbs cramping up from sittin' so long..."

"WE SHOULD ARRIVE AT OUR DESTINATION WITHIN THE HOUR, CAPTAIN! Er...At Least That's What The GPS Says," Papyrus answered Undyne. 

Frisk tilted their head to the side, mulling over something. "Mmm, then how about we play a game?"

"WHAT KIND OF GAME?"

"Maybe...I Spy?"

"H-how do we play it?" came Alphys.

"When it's your turn you find something, then say you spy something and give the color of whatever you saw. Then it's up to the rest of us to figure out what thing you saw," Frisk explained. 

A smirk grew on Undyne's face. "Ok...so what do I, er, _we_ get if we win?"

You joined into the upcoming fun. "Well, since I did book the rooms, I should let you all know I did book one special room that has a beach view and patio. And a private hot tub."

"Oh, hell yeah!!"

Sans cut a sharp glance at Undyne, jerking his thumb in Toriel's direction. The fish woman scowled at him, but did settle back down into her seat.

"I mean, I could just have the concierge make an accommodation to get a penthouse suite for Pappy and myself, but this does sound more interesting to obtain. I say, let the games begin!" 

An hour or so later, you all pulled up to the resort and began unloading. It was a complete shocker to everyone, yourself included, when you were the one who won the special room. You'd had all the couples in mind when you pulled out a little extra for the suite, but you definitely wouldn't be disappointed to have such a nice room to yourself. The sun was just beginning to set for the evening, and it paint the sky a beautiful maroon, mauve, and orange tint. You could smell the faint breeze of the sea and heard a few gulls cawing in the background.

Hopefully this trip would a perfect little break from everything upsetting you over the last few weeks. 

When everyone had gotten their keycards, you all dispersed to explore. Thinking to head on up to your room, you turned in the direction of the elevators but drew up short when you saw Sans and Toriel together waiting. Frisk must have run off with Papyrus and Mettaton since you saw their luggage cast in Sans's blue glow. His hand was lazily massaging up and down Tori's back, their mouths pressed together in a slow kiss. 

Doing an immediate about-face, you headed in the opposite direction of them. 

Bar it is, then. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And another one finished. I'm feeling pretty good about the pace of this one, so I'm hoping you all are enjoying it so far. These next few chapters will be focused at the resort, and since I've never been to a beach before, I'll be researching how to accurately explain the sceneries as best as I can. 
> 
> Stay safe, y'all!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little shopping turns sour really fast...
> 
> C'mon, Sans...you're killing me...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, I would just like to take the time to thank all of you guys for the vast amount of hits, kudos, and comments I've received for not only this story, but all of them. I never expected some writing shit of mine would be so well received, so just, like for real, thank you. 
> 
> Secondly, do y'all have any ideas for a Sans oneshot? Y'all can post em in the comments, and I'll see which one is popular. It can even be a spin off of my previous stories. Idk, just thought it might be a fun little writing experiment.
> 
> Enjoy!

You came awake slowly, your eyes blurrily opening from the brightness wafting into your room through the sheer curtains. Sitting up, you drug a hand through your thick hair, a huge yawn escaping you.

Perhaps it wasn't in your best interest to have that last long island right before journeying up to your room. To be fair, though, it did take your mind off of a certain...skeleton man that was always forefront in your mind for a couple hours before you blacked out sleeping. 

You just had to have a minor hangover to deal with.

Removing your phone from the charger (you were very proud of yourself for having some thought last night to do so), you checked the time and noticed you had a text from Alphys asking if you wanted to come with her and Frisk to do some shopping around. You figured it wouldn't hurt to walk around with them, and it might distract you enough from the minor headache you have. 

Texting back in agreeance, you slowly rose up from the soft bed, stretching your limbs. You reached over to your suitcase and grabbed some light clothes and underwear, then headed for the sprawling bathroom to shower. The steam definitely helped your headache ease up a little, so by the time you were fully dressed, you were somewhat better at facing the outside world. Alphys had texted you while in the shower stating her and Frisk were in the lobby waiting. Grabbing you shoulder purse, you headed out your room to the elevators.

As soon as you stepped in through the doors, you noticed the button for the 2nd floor was lit up. Since you were the only one on the elevator, all you did was back up a bit to make room for whoever would be getting on. A smile was frozen on your face as the doors slid open to reveal...

Sans. 

Fuck. You did not need this so early in the morning. 

The skeleton yawned hugely, and that was when you noticed his teeth weren't fused together, like you'd assumed. And he also boasted a pair of impressively sharp looking incisors that were dulled at the ends. You felt your face heat up from the vast amount of dirty images your traitorous mind decided to supply at the time you saw them. 

"mmm...oh, y/n? mornin'..." he said tiredly.

"Y-yeah, good morning, Sans. Um...not to be rude, but what are you doing up so early?" you asked politely, somehow managing to calm your pulsing heart down to a normal pace again. 

"ya mean 'early for me'?"

"Uh..."

He snickered a bit. "s'cool. tori had asked me to watch over frisk for a while. think they said something about wanting to check out some shops 'r something last night before bed."

"Oh! I had got a text from Alphys this morning asking the same thing."

"guess we're headed to the same place, then. but, uh, wanna make a pitstop in the lobby? need something to keep up with the kiddo if we're gonna do all that today."

Chuckling, you nodded in agreeance. Once the bell dinged for the lobby floor, you both headed to the area, and sure enough, saw a couple people and monsters mulling around getting various breakfast items. With a paper cup of caffeine in both your hands, you and Sans made way to the reception desk where Alphys and Frisk stood. 

"M-morning, Y/n. Sans," Alphys's timid voice called out to you. Frisk immediately beelined to you, giving you an enthusiastic hug and smiling up at you. Returning their grin, you ruffled their hair a bit. "Morning to you, too, Frisky," you said. 

"sup."

"So, where to first?" you asked, curious on what, and who, would be open so early in the day.

Alphys pulled out some kind of pamphlet and held it out for you and Sans to look at. "Undyne and I p-picked this up from a c-closing vendor yesterday evening. H-he recommended we go to this place e-early in the morning to c-check it out before t-too many people come there."

The place in question was a souvenir coastal shop, and from the pictures within, showcased a pretty cute selection of little trinkets, clothing items, and coastal jewelry pieces. Definitely something worth checking out in your opinion.

"The p-place opens at 9AM, s-so Frisk figured we could walk o-on the piers to get there."

"Dyne coming with us?" you asked.

"N-no. She and P-papyrus rushed out e-earlier to do some laps a-around the beach."

Oh, yeah. You knew that was bound to happen when pulling up to the resort by the twinkling glimmer in both their eyes. Judging by how Sans shook his head and how his grin kicked up a bit, he had the same idea. 

"Well, let's get going then. Looks pretty nice outside," you said amicably.

* * *

You were browsing through some interesting looking necklaces when you heard it:

"Fucking monsters...got no business being here."

Even though monster-kind had been above ground for nearly 5 years now, there were still some humans that vehemently opposed their integration into society. You'd seen protests of anti-monster supporters, Undertube videos of humans hazing them in barbaric ways, and other forms of flat out racism for such a peaceful nation. 

Currently, said racists were standing next to Alphys and Frisk, almost forming some type of intrusive blockade from other customers. Only two others were in the store besides you and your friends, but unfortunately they were monsters as well, and you could almost feel the fear they emitted from witnessing this scene. Placing the necklace you had been looking at back on its display, you marched over to your friends. 

"Excuse me, do we have a problem here?" you asked in your most authoritative voice you could manage.

The douchebag, who was sporting a severely orange tan and horribly dyed green hair, turned a sneering glance at you, and almost seemed to perk up from seeing another human join in. "Tch, yeah. I mean, you see them, right? They don't belong here."

You looked back down to Alphys and noted her shaking hand clutched in Frisk's hand. You turned an angry glare back at the racist prick. "Maybe you should remove yourself instead? You're making my friends highly uncomfortable, and one is a kid. A human one, mind you."

The guy and his friend now pivoted to your direction, shock on their faces from your unexpected answer. "The fuck?!" the closest one to you, a surfer blond, exclaimed. "You're friends with these freaks?"

"She's probably one of those, y'know...a monster-fucker. It's goddamn disgusting," the first guy sneered, an ugly look on his face. 

You had slowly moved throughout their disparaging comments to you closer to your friends, forming a mock shield in front of them. Frisk's tiny hand clasped the back of your shirt tightly, making a small sounding whimper. 

"You can make whatever assumptions about me all you want; just get the hell away from me and my friends," you firmly stated. Your heart was pounding now, as even with that bold declaration, neither man seemed willing to back down at this point. From the corner of your eye, you notice the other two monsters rush away to the front of the store, hopefully to grab some help from the owner. 

"I think you need to get your head back on straight, bitch, and come back to the human side where you belong. Or maybe we should just teach you and your freaky friends a lesson, huh?" the green haired one asked you. You could see these guys had nothing left to hold back on, both gazes trained onto you in an immoral way. 

"mm, maybe ya should just go on somewhere else, pal? don't want any...'accidents' ta happen here, eh?"

..You'd never heard his voice ever get that deep. Looking slightly behind the blonde in front of you, you saw Sans casually standing by, witnessing the exchange. What threw you off, though, was the absence of his eye-lights and how his perma-grin was downturn into a scowl. Grasshead moved his gaze from you to the skeleton. "Oh, great. Another mutant that doesn't know their place. Come to save your whore, huh?"

Sans's hand shot out, grabbing the green haired man roughly and pulling him down to eye level. You saw his left eye-light reignite, but instead of the normal fuzzy white color, flashes of yellow and cyan menacingly glowed from his socket. "i suggest ya keep yer fuckin' mouth shut, human, or you and i are gonna have _a_ _b a d t i m e, and we don't wanna have that happen, r i g h t?"_

A blue glow had infused around the two men, and something like an invisible force of heavy pressure fell onto their limbs making them sink down in height. The one Sans had grabbed almost fell onto his knees from how dense the force was upon him. 

"If you could release him, I will kindly escort these gentlemen out of the store, sir." A human security guard had come up, and gently placed a firm hand on Sans shoulder. 

You almost expected Sans to redirect his animosity to the guard, but all he did was release the grasshead, quickly extinguishing his flashing flame from his eye. "no problem, boss."

"What the hell are you making us leave for?! It should be these freaks and their monster whore you need to kick out!" the blond spewed angrily. 

"I don't know what kind of backwards thinking you fellows have going on, but that kind of mess won't cut here in this store or town. Especially against monsters."

The two idiots kept sputtering out obscene nonsense, but by this time, a small crowd of people had made their way into the store and were witness to how the security expertly manhandled them both out of the premise. Who you guessed was the owner, a petite Shyren, sang gratuitous thanks for the guard as they were leaving, then floated over to your group. 

"I'm terribly sorry for any harm you all may have come up against. Please, as a courtesy, let me prepare a gift bag for all of you for the troubles you experienced," she said, a sad tone coloring her words.

"Oh! N-no, no, it's okay. We're okay, I think..?" you said, looking back at Alphys and Frisk in question. 

Frisk nodded in gratitude, while Alphys placed a comforting hand on your arm in gratitude. Sans had looked away in nonchalance, but hovered around, patting Frisk's head. 

"Please...it's the least I can do for you all," the owner insisted. 

A few moments later, your group walked back out onto the piers, gift bags in tote. 

"..Can we get some food, please?" Frisk timidly asked. 

"T-that sounds like a v-very good idea. Should I t-text honey, Papyrus, Metta, and Toriel to j-join us?" 

"Yeah, sounds good to me," you agreed. 

After agreeing on a place to eat locally, you and Sans were sitting on a bench waiting on Alphys and Frisk to come back from the restroom.

"you sure you're okay, y/n..? i shoulda got there sooner-"

"Relax, Sans. It's not the first time something like this has happened, and it unfortunately won't be the last. But, yeah, I'm okay. It was pretty cool what you did, though. I didn't know you could make your eye-lights disappear and change colors," you said, hoping to move past the ordeal.

"magic, kid. i make for a pretty bitchin' lamp, too; no bulbs needed."

"Well, at least you showed up better light than never."

"hey, they needed someone to torch them a lesson. no sweat."

You burst out laughing at the impromptu pun battle. 

..Sans couldn't help but notice his soul gave a little flutter at the sight of your smile again. He just chalked it up as him being concerned for a tentative friend, then rightly continued to bombard you with puns. You were a teary mess by the time Alphys and Frisk made their way back to you all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all...  
It's been a whole year since I started this story, and look at how far we've got together on this journey. Just...thanks for sticking with me this whole time (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ
> 
> Stay safe out here...

**Author's Note:**

> So, yup...idk how long this'll be, but just bear with it for the time being.
> 
> YOLO, n' all that, or whatever lol


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